


Chance Meetings in English Class

by black_eyed_computer



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Jock Dean, M/M, Nerd Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-04 01:05:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5314226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/black_eyed_computer/pseuds/black_eyed_computer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Castiel has to do an English project with Dean, a football player who seems to show little work ethic, he thinks its the end of the world. But Dean is far different than Cas expected...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chance Meetings in English Class

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the characters of Supernatural and I am not profiting from this work in any way.

Castiel plopped down in his seat for English, only to look at the board and realize they were changing seating assignments. He looked at his new group members and internally groaned. Sure, the two girls in his group seemed like they’d work, but the other boy was Dean Winchester. Dean was on the football team and always showed up late to class. He was unlikely to do his share of the work, plus the girls would probably just try to flirt with him the whole time.

Castiel sat down in the back row of the pod with a sigh, now slightly dreading what used to be one of his favourite classes. Castiel mentally cursed as the two girls sat in the front two seats, leaving the last seat for Dean next to him. 

Class was fine for the first five minutes. Then Dean walked into the room, looked at the new seating arrangements and found the only empty seat next to Castiel. Dean came in late every day, so their teacher didn’t even register him at this point. Castiel wondered how he managed to be late every day. English wasn’t even first period, it was second.

For the rest of the class, Castiel found himself being distracted by how surprisingly un-distracting Dean was. He didn’t constantly fidget or play on his phone as Castiel imagined. He just sat there, quietly listening. Every time Castiel tried to turn his attention back to the teacher, Dean’s hulking figure came back into mind.

“For our next project, I really want you to delve deep into a small section of the book, so we’ll be doing projects in pairs instead of groups of four. I trust you to divide up your table groups appropriately.” At this, Castiel’s attention finally turned fully to the teacher. One of the girls would want to work with Dean, which would mean Castiel wouldn’t have to – the only positive of the day so far.

“So which one of you lucky ladies wants to work with me?” Dean leaned forward in his seat.

The brunette one turned around slightly, “try neither, fuckboy.”

Dean shrugged, looking unaffected by the insult, and leaned back into his seat. “I guess that leaves you and me sweater vest.”

“Whatever.” Castiel packed up his stuff as the bell rang.

 

* * *

 

When Castiel came into English the next day and saw that the whole day would be a workday for the new project, his heart dropped a little in his chest. He pulled out his laptop and began to work before the bell rang.

When Dean sauntered in five minutes late as usual, Castiel didn’t even look up. Dean took his sweet time pulling out the novel they were reading and grabbing one of the available classroom laptops from the front of the room.

Eyes still glued to the computer screen, Castiel said, “I made a Google Docs and a Google Slides for the presentation. Your work has your name next to it.” This way they wouldn’t even have to talk.

“Well I guess you have it all planned out then.” Dean slid some books on his desk over and opened the laptop. The books were ever so slightly on Castiel’s desk, and he couldn’t help glancing at them.

Noticing a math textbook that looked eerily similar to his own, Castiel said, “Are you in Calc 1?” Castiel had simply assumed that Dean was in algebra 2, or at least a regular math class, and the only calc classes the school offered were all honours.

“No,” the look on Dean’s face turned quizzical. “Why?”

“I just noticed the textbook. You’re just holding it for a friend?”

“No, it’s mine. I’m in Calc 2/3.” Calc 1 and Calc 2/3 were all taught out of the same textbook at their school.

“Oh,” was the only thing that could make it past Castiel’s lips. 

Dean scoffed and turned to his computer.

“Sorry, I-I just,” Castiel could feel his face reddening. “I just assumed. S-sorry.”

Dean shifted his weight to look at Castiel again. “And why precisely did you assume?” The look in Dean’s eyes was no longer friendly.

Castiel’s face turned even redder and he could feel his ears burning. “Um, well, I guess I just have a stereotype that has been strictly enforced by society,” Castiel could feel himself starting to ramble. “And you, um, you’re on the football team and, uh, you always show up late, and I’m digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole here so I’m going to stop talking.”

The corners of Dean’s eyes crinkled again. “No need to worry, man. I just get a little defensive about it, no need to be embarrassed.” 

Castiel nodded and turned back to his computer. Castiel was very aware of Dean’s eyes still on him for the next few moments before Dean turned back to his own computer. They worked in silence for the rest of the class.

As Castiel stepped out of the classroom, Dean stuck to his side.

“So where’s your next class, Cas?” Dean’s long strides made it hard to outpace him.

“It’s Castiel and I have math.” Castiel was as close to running as he ever got, but Dean had no problem keeping up.

“I like Cas better. Mind if I walk you?”

Cas. It sounded nice. Not as clunky as Castiel. He could live with it. And oh wait Dean asked him a question and what was it again?

“Oh, uh, sure I guess.” Cas silently cursed the distance between the English and Math halls. He couldn’t keep up this pace all the way, so he made an excuse to go to his locker, hoping Dean would drop off or he could at least walk a do-able pace the rest of the way to maths.

“I have next period off, I’m in no rush.”

The walk was awkwardly silent, just as Castiel had expected it would be. All of the sudden, Dean spoke. “You know the reason I’m late to English every day is because I’m dropping my little brother off at school, and we can never seem to get out of the house early enough for me to be on time.”

Cas wanted to ask for more information, but he was afraid he’d be stepping over an unspoken line, so again all he managed was an “Oh.”

The math hall came into sight and eventually so did Castiel’s classroom.

“Sorry about earlier, it was a stupid thing to assume.” Cas wanted the conversation to end before getting to the classroom door so he could just disappear inside.

Dean let out a soft chuckle. “It’s already forgiven.” They were at the classroom, and Castiel was just about to say bye when Dean spoke again. “Hey, you want to meet this weekend to work on our English project?”

This was something that Cas could genuinely make an excuse for, but he found himself saying, “sure.”

“Can I have your phone number so we can set it up?”

Castiel nodded and Dean pulled out his phone. Cas rattled off the digits, checked that Dean had them right, and finally, finally entered his classroom with only a simple wave goodbye to Dean.

 

* * *

 

Castiel’s mom was so excited that he made a new friend that she made a lot of food for when Dean came over Saturday afternoon. She made sure to disappear immediately after Dean arrived.

Cas led Dean to his room, where they sat down on the floor and Castiel pulled out his laptop. Dean didn’t have a computer of his own, Cas realized. Not wanting to make the situation awkward by unintentionally insulting Dean or his social class, Castiel opened the Google Slides and slid the computer between them. The corners of Dean’s lips turned up, not that Cas saw. 

“So what do you want to start with?” Castiel asked.

“We could just read over our passage to make sure we focus on the right things,” Dean suggested. 

Cas nodded and opened his book between them. They traded off reading paragraphs until the end of their section.

“I don’t think I understand this any more than the first two times I read it.” Cas could feel Dean’s breath on his arm as he talked. 

Cas tried his best to explain his interpretation, and by the end Dean nodded. 

A moment of awkward silence passed before Cas got the nerve to ask the question he’d been wanting to ask since Dean first really talked to him on Friday: “Where does your brother go to school that makes you late every day?” 

Castiel spoke in a rush and wasn’t sure if Dean understood him at first. But another smile rose on to Dean’s face and he began to talk.

“Sammy, that’s my brother, he’s really the smart one.”

“I doubt that you seem pretty smart to me,” Cas couldn’t help but blush as he complimented Dean.

Dean shook his head but another smile played on his lips. “Not like Sammy. He got himself a scholarship to go to a fancy school that challenges him more.” Dean’s whole face lit up as he talked about his brother. “They only give out two scholarships every year, and Sammy is guaranteed one until he graduates high school. He’s the smartest kid I know.”

Cas found himself smiling too. “That’s really great. I’d love to meet him sometime. But why do you drive him if it makes you late to school everyday?”

Dean’s smile lessened, but didn’t disappear completely. “My dad has a job fixing cars,” he paused, wondering how much to tell Cas. “Plus he’s not reliable all the time. It’s just safer if I take Sammy.”

“And what about your mom?”

“She died when I was younger.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“Jeez, Cas, don’t freak out about everything you say, it’s fine. It was a long time ago. We’ve all had time to move on. Not that all of us have.” The last sentence was muttered under Dean’s breath.

Dean took a big gulp of air, “see, a burglar came into our house and my mom interrupted him so he hit her on the head really hard. We think he was also trying to kidnap Sammy, who was only a baby at the time. He lit the house on fire and left. My dad and I managed to get Sammy out, but it was too late for my mom.”

Cas put a reassuring hand on Dean’s shoulder and moved his thumb in soothing circles.

“All the details are a little fuzzy for me ‘cause I was only six, but I remember enough.” Dean took another big breath. “It was after that that my dad turned to alcohol and all over stopped giving a shit about me and Sammy. It was a few years before I convinced him to go back to work, and we’re still living in a shit-hole because of him. But Sammy’s going to get a scholarship to a good university, I think, so it’s all going to turn out OK.”

“And what about you?” Cas’s hand was still on Dean’s shoulder.

“Me? I’d like to go to college, but I’ll need a huge scholarship. That’s part of the reason I play football. Maybe some school will want me for that. If not, I’ll find work fixing up cars, just like my old man.”

“You are so smart Dean, and I’ve heard you play really well. I have no doubt in my mind that a school will give you money.”

Dean turned his head towards Cas. “Thanks, I mean it.”

“Of course,” Cas nodded.

“And what about you?”

“I’m afraid my life is terribly boring. I take all AP classes and during the school year I don’t have time for much else. Other than that, I’ve done karate since I was five. My family is pretty regular, but my parents can be a little conservative and over-zealous about religion. Pretty boring stuff.”

Dean leaned back against Cas’s bed, “man, I would kill for your life.”

Cas looked outside and realized how dark it was. They’d been talking for hours.

“I guess we didn’t get much work done.” Even though a situation like this would usually make Cas upset, he smiled. 

“You know Cas, we have work days the next two weeks in class. There was no reason for us to work on it outside of school.”

Cas’s eyebrows creased. “Then why did you suggest we meet?”

“I think you’re pretty cool and I wanted to be your friend.”

“You do know you could have just asked me if I wanted to hang out like any normal person.”

“Yeah, but you seemed like you would say no, so here we are.” Dean paused a moment and looked out the window. “Hey Cas?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you like to go to the water park with me next Saturday? The weather is still pretty good, we might as well take advantage of it.”

“I would love to, Dean.”

 

* * *

 

On Monday during English, Cas and Dean talked about their other classes and their favourite and least-favourite teachers. On Tuesday, they talked about football and karate. On Wednesday, they talked about their favourite bands and found that they both preferred old music to the more modern stuff their peers listened to. On Thursday, they talked about their families, each complaining about their parents. On Friday, they talked about their plans for the weekend and Cas told Dean all the other amusement parks he’d been to, which evolved into Cas telling Dean all of the places around the world he’d traveled with his parents. 

And every day after English, Dean walked Cas to his math class.

 

* * *

 

Cas waited outside the water park and watched as a black Impala swung into the parking lot. Dean stepped out of the car followed quickly by a lengthy younger boy. The other boy walked right up to Cas smiling. 

“You must be Sammy,” Castiel said.

The boy turned around and glared at Dean. “Dean! Stop telling people that’s my name!”

“It is,” Dean shot back.

“Only to you,” he turned back to face Cas. “I’m Sam.” He held out a hand, “You must be Cas.”

Castiel shook Sam’s hand. “Similarly my name is Castiel,” Cas paused. “But you can call me Cas.”

They walked up to the ticket booth, Sam bounding in front of Cas and Dean.

“Sorry about bringing him without telling you. Our dad was in a particularly bad mood, and I figured it would be safer if he came with us. He has a friend coming in a little bit.”

“It’s no bother, Dean. I enjoyed meeting him,” Cas smiled.

Dean returned the smile. “So no sweater vest today? I didn’t know you had other clothes.”

Cas looked down at his polo shirt. “I do have other clothes, sweater vests just seem more appropriate for school.”

Dean huffed out a small laugh. “Do you even have any T-shirts?”

“I can’t say as I do.”

Dean chuckled again, “I’ll have to do something about that.”

They set their towels on a lawn chair. Dean took off his shoes and shirt, revealing a tan and muscular chest.

Cas again glanced at his shirt, and considered for half a moment leaving it on. He realized it would be more awkward, so he reluctantly shed it, exposing his thin, pale torso.

Gratefully, Dean made no comment as he led them to the ride with the longest line. 

Cas commented on the line, and Dean replied, “It’s still pretty early. The line gets even longer later. Plus it’s totally worth the wait.”

They stood in almost awkward silence for a few moments. “So have you ever been here before?” Dean asked Cas.

Cas shook his head, “No.”

“Never?”

Cas shrugged, “The situation never arose. I assume then that you’ve been here before?”

“Yeah, lots. I used to bring Sammy here whenever our dad was in one of his moods. So a lot.”

The distance to the start of the ride dwindled, and Cas found himself climbing into an inner tube with a bottom and looked over to see Dean already sitting on the other side.

They were pushed off and they went through a dark tunnel, over bumps, around bends, swirled in a circle, and under a waterfall. 

“You were right – that was worth the wait,” Cas said as he extracted his wet body from the inner tube.

“Let me show you the rest of my favourite rides!”

They spent the morning running around the park from ride to ride, going on everything from steep slides to the lazy river.

When the sun was overhead, Dean suggested they leave. They gathered their things and found Sam. Cas noticed all the people just coming in and was glad they had decided to go in the morning. 

Dean gave Cas a ride, but instead of taking him back to his house, they stopped at a diner that Cas’s parents would have deemed too unhealthy.

Sam and Dean seemed to know everyone who worked there. “We’ll take three hamburgers, Ellen.”

“So demanding!” A pretty blond walked by and pushed Dean’s head foreword. “Who’s your new friend?”

“This is Cas. Cas, Jo. Jo, Cas.”

“Don’t listen to anything he says,” Jo walked off to serve other customers.

The hamburger was the best Cas had ever had. It came with thick, sweet root beer and perfectly cooked French fries. 

They said goodbye to Ellen and Jo. Dean drove Cas the rest of the way to his house.

“So I hear a new Marvel movie is coming out in two weeks,” Dean said as they pulled up to Cas’s house. “You wanna go?”

“I’d love to Dean.” Cas gathered his things and stepped out of the car. “I had a wonderful day.”

 

* * *

 

Over the course of the next two months, Cas and Dean went to a movie, went roller blading, actually worked on their English project because they just talked to each other during all the workdays in class, went bowling, and spent a day building a fort like they were kids. 

Every time they met, Dean brought Cas one of his old T-shirts.

 

* * *

 

On a lazy Saturday afternoon, Dean and Cas sat in Cas’s bed discussing everything and nothing. The sunlight streamed through the windows like honey, draping the whole room in a golden glow. Cas was wearing one of Dean’s old AC/DC shirts that was threadbare and way too big on him. 

All of the sudden, or at least it seemed like it to Cas, Dean shifted the subject and asked, “Cas, are you gay?”

Cas found himself springing off the bed and backing away. Dean stood up too, slower. “It’s fine if you are, I won’t judge or anything.” He took a slow step forward, but immediately stepped back when Cas backed away even further. “You don’t have to answer.”

Cas considered his options. At this point, not answering was enough of an answer. But if Cas told the truth – and he couldn’t lie, not to Dean – Dean wouldn’t want to hang out with him anymore.

“Fine. Yes.” Cas breathed shakily, “I’m gay.”

Cas waited for Dean to leave, to denounce their friendship. But that didn’t happen. Instead, Dean stepped forward, way into Cas’s personal space, and before Cas could realize what was happening, Dean was kissing him. 

Cas’s eyes fluttered closed. It wasn’t one of the chaste pecks that he often saw couples exchange before they went different directions in the hallways, it was just slightly longer. Long enough for Cas to fully feel Dean, short enough to leave him wanting more.

Dean pulled away, but Cas left his eyes shut to try to make the moment last longer. The corners of his lips were upturned, and Dean thought he looked very blissful. When Cas opened his eyes, the only thing he saw was Dean, still too close, with a goofy smile that lit up his whole face.

Cas’s expression slowly turned to misery. “Get out.” Cas picked up Dean’s things from the floor and shoved them into his arms, “Get out,” he said again. 

Dean’s smile dropped. “I-I thought you had a crush on me.”

“Of course I have a crush on you, you idiot!” Cas was now trying to push Dean out of his room to no avail. 

The expression on Dean’s face turned to confusion. “So what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that this is all a joke to you. Probably something you plotted up with the football team to get a good laugh over later.”

“You honestly think I’d do that?”

“Well, no.” Cas stopped pushing Dean.

“Then what’s the issue again?”

“The issue is this is too good to be true. Guys like you don’t have crushes on guys like me. Plus last I checked you were incredibly straight. So yeah, a prank is the most reasonable answer here.”

“First of all, I’m bi. Secondly, I have a raging crush you, in case you haven’t caught on. I would never hurt you like that.”

“Oh,” was all Cas could say.

“I just wanted to make sure you actually liked guys and I wasn’t misinterpreting your feelings before I did something.”

“Oh.”

“So Cas, is there still an issue?”

Cas was silent for a long moment. “Yes.” And with that one word Dean’s face fell.

“In the two months that we’ve been hanging out, you’ve dated a parade of girls. I really like you, but I don’t want to date you if you’re just going to break up with me in a week.”

Dean sighed in relief. “Those girls were all made up, I was just hoping to make you jealous.”

“Well it worked.”

Dean smiled, “I’ve been in a long-term relationship before, just so you know. And they feel different right off the bat, just like this feels. But what’s between us feels stronger than anything I’ve ever felt towards anyone else.”

Cas walked over to his bed and fell backwards onto it with a flop. His hands rose to his face and pressed into his temples. “Here you are trying to make a romantic and perfect gesture, and I have to go and fuck it up.”

Dean sat on the bed next to Cas. “Did you just swear?”

Cas lowered his hands, “I think the situation rather calls for it.”

Dean lay down next to Cas, “Nah, it’s still repairable.” 

Dean turned his head to the side and the two held eye contact for a prolonged moment. Dean turned onto his side, using his elbow to prop him up. Slowly, Dean leaned towards Cas until their faces were only inches apart and paused, looking to Cas for confirmation. Cas craned his neck until his lips met Dean’s and putting his hands on the back of Dean’s neck pulled him in for a long kiss.


End file.
